Drake
by cthagstrom
Summary: The story of a dragon trying to live his life after banishment


DRAKE

Chapter 1

With the sun high in the sky, people are buzzing around the market place, trying to hurry and get their shopping done and get out of the sweltering heat. Venders are scurrying about trying to keep merchandise on the shelves. In all the hustle and bustle of a typical market day, there is movement that looks just a little too purposeful, weaving in and out from between the crowd, going behind and around stalls. He looks almost like a small blur to the lazy eye that just might happen to notice him. But he is anything but a blur. If you just happen to catch him sitting still, you will see that he is a young, lean, and fit little boy, no more than 6 years old. With just a pair of ratty torn shorts, long unkempt hair, and no shirt, he looks like just another street rat, but he knows better than that. He knows where he comes from. And that's why he ran away.

As he moves, he keeps his eyes on the prize, a big juicy chunk of meat, hanging on the front of the butchers stall. "*this is going to be a tricky grab. He's alert today*" he thinks to himself. He goes around another vender and backs down an ally. He looks up at a rope dangling from a roof. He looks around to make sure there is nobody around then crotches low to the ground. He concentrates and small dragon wings sprout from his shoulder blades. He jumps as high as he can then starts flapping his under-developed wings as hard as he can, getting just enough extra height to reach up and grab the rope. He wraps his tiny fingers around it and starts pulling himself up, slowly getting to roof, rolling onto it and lies on his stomach for a minute. He pulls his wings back into himself and rolls his shoulders. "*still not used to that*" he thinks as he gets up and runs to the other edge just over the butchers stall where the meat and his next meal are hanging.

As he peeks over the edge, he surveys the scene below. The butcher is standing in front of the stall helping customers with their purchases, various people are standing around the stall, and the market security guard is circling around for the third time. "*yeah, this is going to be tough*" he thinks to himself as he backs away from the edge again.

He stands up and concentrates, delving into his mind, quieting the noises from everywhere, calming his mind and soul. As he thinks of his training, his skin slowly starts changing from tan human skin to liquid black scales, covering his whole body. As he takes a deep breath and opens his eyes, the transformation is complete. But he is still not ready. He closes his eyes again and concentrates again. His black scales slowly begin to brighten then change to many different colors. Eventually it looks like his hand has disappeared. Then his arm blends away, then his shoulder. Soon his whole body looks like he isn't there. His scales have blended into the surroundings and reflect them, making him look invisible.

He opens his eyes again and looks around to make sure he still hasn't been seen then walks over to the edge of the building again. He pops his neck in preparation and crotches down. He picks up a length of rope that he had left there the day before and ties it tight to the building then around his waist. He very slowly steps off the edge and lowers himself over the butchers stall. When he reaches the end of the rope, he is eye level with the hunk of meat he had his eye on. He turns his head and looks around to see if anyone has noticed him. He doesn't see any out-of-the-ordinary movement from anyone to indicate that someone has seen him and there is no alarm from security.

Very slowly he reaches over and grips the tail end of the meat and lifts it up slightly. He pokes out a finger of his other hand and extends a claw and cuts the rope holding the meat. He cautiously keeps an eye on the crowd below him for any signs of being spotted. All of a sudden there is a loud bang and all the people in the crowd turn around and look to the other end of the market in time to see a little girl run out of sight holding a basket of apples and the vender running after her.

He takes this momentary distraction and quickly ties the meat to his waist and climbs up the rope and over the edge of the building. He unties himself from the rope and runs to the other side of the building, leaping to the next building roof. He keeps jumping from building to building; never slowing down for fear that someone did see him and is chasing after him. He comes to the last jump before he gets to his home and slows down a bit when he hears the sound of little feet pattering down the alley below him. He looks over the side and sees the same little girl with the basket of apples running along below him and around the corner out of sight. Then he hears what sounds like ten or twelve people running from the other end of the ally. He backs away just enough to be able to see but not be seen by the small crowd of people apparently chasing the girl.

"*I have to help her*" he thinks to himself as he looks at the roof of the building across the ally for a way to help stop the crowd. He spots a stack of 50 gallon barrels sitting right by the edge. He takes a few steps back then takes a running jump across to the other side. Then he runs up to the barrels and pushes hard. The barrels tip over and fall to the ground, completely blocking the ally. The people stop suddenly and he can hear their angry voices wondering where the barrels came from. He doesn't dare look over the edge to see and turns around and runs to the other side of the building and looks over just in time to see the girl turn the corner and run right underneath him.

He jumps down right behind her as she keeps running. The sound of him landing makes her jump and stop in her tracks. She turns around and looks at him with a scared look on her face. "Please don't hurt me. I'm just hungry and needed to eat." she says in a cracking scared voice.

He laughs and points to the meat hanging from his waist. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just stole this too. I'm just like you."

Her face lightens up as she realizes he isn't after her. "You stole that just now?"

"Yeah, right when you stole those" he says as he points to the apples. "Do you have a place to stay?"

She shakes her head, "no...I sleep where ever I can..." her eyes start to tear up.

He holds out his hand, "My name is Drake and I have a place to stay right around the corner here if you want to come with me. We can even share food if you want something more than just apples."

Her face lights up as she takes his hand and shakes it. She smiles, "I'm Seraphina"

He holds her hand and starts walking towards his home, "come on, I'll show you your new home."

She follows him as he walks around a corner and down another ally, around another corner and up to a wall with a square piece of plywood covering a small hole. As he bends down to lift the board away, she scans her surroundings for potential traps. He nods his head towards the hole as he crawls through it, indicating her to follow. She looks around one last time then follows him through the hole.

As she emerges out the other side, she sees what can only amount to a small shack hastily thrown together. The walls were made from various materials and multiple sizes. The floor had mismatched rugs and carpets strewn about to make a somewhat clean surface to walk on. There was a sheet of plywood sitting on four blocks, making a small table with two more blocks on either side to be used as chairs.

To any normal person, this would be a dump and not worth keeping, but to her, this was a mansion. Her smile grew bigger as she watched him take the food and spread it out on the makeshift table, motioning to one of the blocks as he sat on the other one. She walked over and sat down, her stomach starting to growl as she hadn't eaten a full meal in days.

Drake took the meat he stole and cut it into multiple different sections. Then he takes two in his hand as he looked up at her, "Umm, this might freak you out, but I'm not a normal boy."

As he said this, he heated up his hand till it was glowing red hot, effectively grilling the meat in his hand. She watched in awe but didn't seem as surprised as he thought she might be. He finished cooking the meat then the set the hot steak in front of her, the smell reaching her nose as she inhaled, causing her stomach to growl even louder.

She looked at him as she grabbing the meat and took a big bite out of it, not even wincing or flinching at the heat radiating off it. He just sat there, watching her, wondering why she wasn't affected by the heat. He shrugs it off and figures he'd ask her later as he gnaws into his meat like a lion into a freshly killed gazelle.

They both sit there in silence as they enjoy the feast in front of them. After they finish, drake puts the leftover food away in a box and slides it out of the way.

"I only have the one bed, so you can take it and I'll sleep on the floor" he says to her as he stands up and wipes his hands on his clothes.

"No, no, please, it's your bed, you sleep on it, I'll sleep on the floor" she protests as he brushes a spot on the floor for him to sleep on.

"Oh please, I'm not a barbarian. You sleep on the bed till I can get you another bed. Don't worry. I actually like the floor better some nights."

She tries not to start crying from his generosity. "Thank you" she says as she gets up and walks over to what some would call several small and flat pillows just thrown on the floor, but again, to her, it might as well have been a luxurious king size bed. She lays down on it and sighs happily, having a full stomach for the first time in a long time and having a nice and comfortable place to sleep. She turns to look at him as he lays down on the floor and smiles softly at him, "Goodnight".

He looks back at her and smiles back, "Good night Seraphina" as he closes his eyes and falls asleep.

She looks at him for a couple more minutes then slowly drifts to sleep, thinking about what this new friendship could mean for her future.

15 years later….

His claws dig into the roof tops as he sprints along them. It's another sunny and hot day in the market. Just like that day a long time ago. A lot has changed since then as he takes a flying leap across an alley that would have been too big for him to jump over back then. He grins as he easily clears it and glances back at the gap. Then he's looking ahead at his new target.

Back then he had just been a scrawny little kid just trying to survive by stealing from merchants. But if you saw him now, you wouldn't think this was the same kid. No, he is a man now, 20 years old in human years. Tall, lean, and muscular. All from years of working out and conditioning his body. Easily six foot five inches tall, short jet black hair, shiny blue-green eyes darting back and forth, scanning his surroundings as he keeps leaping from building from building.

As he reaches the edge of a certain building, he suddenly stops in his tracks and looks down. There it is, the exact same meat stand just years before he was stealing from. He giggles softly as he steps off the edge and quietly lands behind the fat old guy manning the stand. He grins again and slowly sneaks forward behind the man. He thinks to himself, "*Today is the day*" as he extends his claws and sneaks right behind the merchant, a certain glint in his eye.

He lifts his arms and gets ready to bring his claws down into the old man's neck as he hears, "you know Drake, that has never worked before, what makes you think that will work now?"

The old man turns his head and smiles as drake drops his arms and laughs heartily. "How do you always know, old man?"

"It comes with experience young one. You'll learn some day. Now here, take over while I take I have a seat and drink some water. I'm parched." He steps away from the front of the stand and walks back to his straw chair in the back as Drake walks up to the front and greets the person looking at the many varieties of meats and vegetables on display. The man looks up and flashes a warm smile at Drake, "well hello drake, I didn't see you there. How are you today?"

Drake smiles back, "I'm doing really well doctor, thanks for asking. How are the children?"

The doctor picks up a bundle of bananas and inspects them, "They are wonderful, at the playground with their mother right now so I thought I would do a little shopping while they are out" he puts the bananas in the wicker basket on his arm and keeps looking at the rest of the selection.

Drake keeps a mental tab of what he puts in his basket so he can charge him after he is done, "I was thinking that I would show them the wings someday soon, what do you think about that? Do you think they could handle that?" he asks the doctor as he extends his black dragon wings out to full length and flaps them softly.

The doctor looks up from the big slab of brisket in front of him and looks drake's wings and nods his head, "I believe they are ready for it, yes. I think they will get a kick out of it." He keeps smiling and grabs the meat and places it in the basket as well, "So, how much do I owe you for all this?" he shows the basket to drake.

Drake calculates the value in his head, "That would be ten and a quarter sir."

The doctor pulls the money out and hands him twelve, "Keep the change son, you deserve it" he winks as he turns around and walks off.

Drake yells out after him, "Thank you sir, have a good day!" then he turns around and looks at the old man. "You ok over there?"

The man smiles softly and nods, "I'm great Drake. I'm just impressed with how far you've come in the past few years. You seem to be fitting in with all of us humans quite well, considering you're not one."

"Well, it was hard at first when everyone found out that I was really a dragon with some shifting properties, but once people got used to it, they started learning the real me. And yes, it has gotten easier. Thanks to you." He laughs and tosses an apple at him. The old man catches it and bites into it.

"Oh, I haven't done that much, I just gave you a job. Oh, by the way, where is Seraphina? I thought she was supposed to be here today to help out."

"Oh, she had something she had to take care of first then she'll be here" Drake says as he turns back around and starts helping another customer.

(On the edge of town, next to a small flowing creek)

Seraphina lies out on the soft grass under the big oak tree, looking up at the bright blue sky. She smells the various flowers around her and smiles brightly, enjoying the quiet peaceful tranquility outside of the busy city. She wishes she could stay out here forever. She glances over and sees a catfish surface in the creek, gulp down a poor dragonfly then dip back under the water. She closes her eyes and takes slow deep breaths, feeling a calm relaxation take over her body…

(A few hours later)

"Seraphina, Seraphina" Drake gently shakes her shoulders, trying to wake her up "Seraphina, wake up"

She slowly opens her eyes and looks up at him, yawns and stretches, "oh damn, what happened?"

"You fell asleep. You've been out here for a while. I was wondering why you never showed up earlier so I came looking for you." He extends his hand to help her up. She takes it and stands up gracefully.

"Well, I hope I didn't worry you too much, don't want you actually missing me or anything" she chuckles and slaps his shoulder.

"Ha ha, very funny. Come on, dinners almost ready." He starts walking back towards the city as he talks back at her over his shoulder. "I thought you had to take care of something."

She laughs at him, "I did, I wanted to come out here by myself and relax a little. Is that so bad?"

He chuckles, "No, it's not bad, I just know you as someone who likes to keep her word" he looks back at her and sticks his tongue out at her playfully. She grins and repeats the same action back at him. This is their typical game between the two of them. Playful banter back and forth. They have been close friends since the day they met, so close in fact everyone thought they were brother and sister up until they found out his secret of being a dragon. Not that he a problem with that. He enjoyed his life now that everyone knew. It made it easier to go out into public. He no longer had to steal food to survive. Everyone in town helped both of them out.

She shrugs and giggles, "Maybe" as she brushes past him and runs up the path back to the city. He chuckles and chases after her. They both reach the city about the same time, laughing like lifelong friends do. They both push through the throngs of people gathered at the main entrance, typical for a Saturday. They lose sight of each other as they push through the crowd, each coming out at separate points on the other side.

Drake looks back and forth, searching for her but can't see her. So he pops his wings out and flies up a little to see over the crowd, still searching for her. He notices strands of bright blonde hair snap down the alley and he grins, "So you want to play that game?" as he floats over the crowd towards the alley. As soon as he turns the corner, he stops suddenly as he sees three males surrounding the prone body of Natalia.

"What's going on here?" he yells as he slowly approaches the males.

One snaps around, holding a small blade in his hand and waves it in front of himself at Drake. "Stay back, dragon. This has nothing to do with you." The other two turn around at this point facing Drake, both also holding blades.

Drake takes a small step back then crouches low and extends his razor sharp claws, snarling at them, "She is my best friend. You better believe this involves me."

The first male laughs evilly then jumps forward, slashing with his small blade right at drake's chest. Drake ducks lower then swings an upper cut at his jaw, instantly shattering it and causing the male to drop his knife and stagger backwards, holding his broken jaw. Then Drake turns towards the two remaining males, flashing his fangs. "You still have a choice. Leave now and never come back."

They look at each other then back at him, flashing evil smiles. "We have the advantage though, why would we run?" they snicker as they spread out, one on either side of drake, twirling the knives around flashily. Drake shakes his head and crouches again, preparing for the impending fight. The second male lunges at Drakes head while the third dives for his lower back, both wanting to end this quickly. As soon as they move, Drake jumps up and twists his body sideways, effectively making them both miss him completely. Then on his way down, he grasps both of their heads, bringing them together hard, giving them an emergency meeting of the minds. The echo of skull on skull flows through the alley as they both slump to the ground, unconscious.

Drake runs over to Natalia and kneels down next to her, checking her pulse. Seeing that she's ok and just unconscious, he carefully picks her up and walks out of the ally, yelling, "Someone fetch the doctor, she's been hurt!"

Several people scurry off to look for the doctor as more come over and look at her. A few minutes later, the doctor comes running up. "What happened?" he asks as he checks her out for serious injury.

"Three men attacked her in the ally back there. I stopped them before they could do anything very serious. Is she going to be ok, doc?" drake asks with an edge of concern in his voice.

"Yes, she will be just fine drake. It was just a bump on the head. She just needs some rest. Take her home carefully and see that she's comfortable."

A few people walk down the alley to find the three men as drake walked off to take her home. Whispers and rumors started floating around about the dangers surrounding the city as it was found out that the three men were from another city not far from this one. But what no one realized at that particular time was the true intentions behind the person…or thing that hired the three men.

2 weeks later…..

The sounds of water streaming over rocks fill the crisp clean morning air. The birds are chirping their morning songs as they fly about, gathering sticks for their nests or food for their young. A couple of deer and their fawn slowly walk out to the stream and started drinking from it as it flows by them. A few clouds float lazily in the air with no particular place to go. The gravel crunches under their feet as Drake and Seraphina walk along the bank of the stream and chat back and forth about various things.

Ever since she got jumped by the three men, she has never wanted to leave Drakes side. Wherever he went, she was right there. She felt protected by him. Felt safer when he was with her. Today was a beautiful day so they decided to take a walk and just talk. They don't get that chance very often now that they were both working. Today was their first day off in a long time so they were going to enjoy it together.

They keep walking till they come upon a particularly grassy area right next to the stream. Seraphina walks over and plops down in the grass and sighs happily, feeling the soft green grass tickle her feet. Drake walks over and sits next to her and smiles, enjoying the warm glow of the sun and the sounds of nature around them.

Seraphina looks over at him and asks, "Hey Drake, do you have any regrets?"

He looks back at her with a confused look on his face. "Do I have regrets about what?"

"Regrets about your life and the decisions you've made."

He leans back on his arms and stretches his legs out straight in front of him. "Hmmm, that's a good question. At this point, no, not really regrets per say. Are there things I would like to change about my past? Of course there are. We all have those wishes. But if I could go back and change them, I probably wouldn't. I love my life now." He reaches over and grabs her hand in his and holds it. "I enjoy the time we spend together. You're my best friend. I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for you."

She blushes softly at his touch then giggles lightly. "I feel the same way. I will always remember that day so long ago when you saved me from those people in the ally then brought me back to your room and gave me a place to sleep. You were my hero ever since that day and I did nothing to deserve your kindness." She scoots a bit closer to him and leans her head on his shoulder then giggles a little harder. "Plus, you are a dragon boy. Who doesn't want to be friends with someone like that?"

Drake laughs at this statement then lays all the way on his back, causing her to fall back with him. He puts his arm around her shoulders as she scoots right next to him and turns onto her side, laying her arm on his chest. They both lay like this for a while before they nod off to sleep.

A few hours later, Drake wakes up with a start and blinks rapidly. He looks around, not knowing where he is at first. Then he feels the warm sleeping body of Seraphina lying next to him then it all comes back to him. He relaxes and lies there, looking up at the orange and pink sky from the sunset.

Seraphina slowly wakes up and stretches, feeling wonderful after her nap. She sits up and glances around at the darkening forest around them. She looks over at Drake as he sits up too. "Hey, it's getting late. We better head back now."

He nods his head as he stands up and offers her his hand to help her stand up. They both brush each other off and head back down the gravel road towards the city. As they walk, the sky slowly gets darker and darker as night takes over. As they approach the final hill till they reach the city, they both notice an orange glow coming from the other side of it. They look at each other in confusion then run to the top of it where they both stop suddenly and gasp at the scene before them.

The whole city was on fire. Smoke was billowing up from several different areas and they could see huge flames rising higher and higher as they burn brightly. Drakes sensitive dragon ears could hear faint screams every once in a while. Seraphina brings her hand up to her mouth and starts breathing hard, not believing what she was seeing. They both look up at a dark mysterious movement in the sky, flying around in circles in the smoke. Drake tilts his head as he tries to figure out what it is then suddenly his eyes widen when he realizes what it is. He quickly looks around and finds a small lonely shack off to the side of the road. He grabs Seraphina and drags her over to it and opens the door. "You need to stay in here. It's not safe with him here."

Before she could ask who he was talking about, he shuts the door and turns around, spreads his wings and flies off towards the city. As he gets closer, he sees the true devastation in the city and his heart breaks. Everywhere he looks, there are dead and burned bodies sprawled all over the roads and sidewalks. Everyone that had come to know and accept him, they were all dead. As he flies over the market, he sees the meat stand that he worked for. Or what was left of it after it was burned to the ground. Then he sees the body lying behind it. He gasps and flies down quickly. He lands next to the old man and checks his pulse. The old man opens his eyes and looks up at Drake. With his voice full of emotion, Drake chokes out, "I'm so sorry. I should have been here to help protect you."

The old man smiles softly and reaches his blood covered hand up to Drakes face. "Don't be silly. You couldn't have done anything about it. You would have died along with the rest of us. Listen to me Drake….." he coughs wetly and a small trickle of blood falls out the corner of his mouth, "Get Seraphina away from here…..go far away and live your lives….don't act on your feelings here….I know you….Revenge isn't a life to live…." His hand slowly slides off Drakes face, leaving red streaks down his cheek then plops on the ground. The life slowly fades from his eyes as Drake watches with tears in his own eyes.

Suddenly, a loud shriek wails out from far behind Drake, the sound of flapping wings seeming to come from everywhere. Before he can react, giant claws come out of nowhere and snatch him up, taking him high into the air before diving back down towards the ground, dropping him hard on the ground, leaving a deep trench from where he landed. Drake coughs, blood spurting from his mouth, multiple ribs now broken. He sits up and looks around in pain, holding his side just as what grabbed him lands in front of him with a loud thud, the giant claws now digging into the ground. Drake slowly looks up at the giant creature now in front of him. The paws flowing into massive legs attached to a muscular body, wings expanding to almost 2 town blocks. The scales shining a golden brown, the flames around them make the scales look like they are dancing across his body. A long neck comes to a big face, dark green eyes, smoke flowing from the nostrils, a sly grin revealing nasty sharp teeth.

"I knew I smelled your scent, Drake" the dragon chuckles as he looks down at the much smaller Drake before him.


End file.
